Oracle releases Oracle Linux 6.5 

The update’s file system improvements provide administrators with new capabilities, like implementing incremental backup mechanisms using file system snapshots and setting size limits for volumes and subvolumes, and they enhance other supported file systems, including XFS, ext4, and OCFS2.

It also supports the Intel Ivy Bridge Processor family, allowing customers to use their Ivy Bridge-based servers as Oracle Linux hosts. Paravirtualization drivers enable customers to run Oracle Linux as a guest on Microsoft Server Hyper-V and Windows Azure.

Additionally, the release introduces several new security features. These include shared encrypted data storage that crypto toolkits can use to process trusted certificates, and smartcard authentication support for a wider array of application subsystems for single sign on.

“Oracle continues to bring the latest Linux innovations to the market, providing customers with the features and capabilities necessary for their business-critical workloads,” said Wim Coekaerts, SVP, Linux and Virtualization Engineering, Oracle. “With full DTrace integration and default install of the Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel Release 3, features that are above and beyond the generic enterprise Linux 6.5, Oracle Linux 6.5 delivers the best enterprise Linux solution to date.”

Oracle Linux 6.5 is available on all x86-based Oracle Engineered Systems, and is capable of supporting business-critical workloads such as Oracle Database 12c.